1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to beverage forming and dispensing systems. More particular, the present invention relates to beverage forming and dispensing systems for effectively preparing a beverage mixture from concentrate, and even more particularly to beverage forming and dispensing systems for effectively monitoring and controlling the quality of a post-mix product. The present invention further relates to a dispensing valve assembly of a single design that can be used with any of various types of concentrates.
2. Description of the Related Art
Beverages formed from concentrate are enjoyed around the world. An important advantage of forming a beverage from a concentrate is that only the concentrate need be shipped to the dispensing site; any available water supply at the site can be used to form the bulk of the final mixed product. A typical application of forming a beverage from a concentrate is a post-mix beverage dispensing system, commonly referred to as a fountain system, that mixes a syrup concentrate with carbonated water to form a beverage.
Improving the quality of fountain beverages to meet the goal of a “bottle quality” carbonated beverage delivered by on-premise fountain equipment has been a long, ongoing process. Fountain equipment must consistently carbonate water to proper CO2 volumes, cool product to the desired serving temperature and dispense water and syrup at a precise ratio to deliver the consumer's drink with the desired quality. All this critical functionality must be delivered from a piece of equipment a fraction of the size and cost of traditional bottle-plant equipment and with none of the rigorous plant maintenance procedures performed on a daily basis. Nevertheless, this quality goal has driven many design initiatives with varying degrees of success.
Standard beverage valves require manual adjustment of water-to-syrup ratio and readjustment based on seasonal changes in temperature. In such dispensers, trained technicians must adjust carbonators during summer months when the water temperature is higher. After adjusting the carbonator, the technician must then readjust the water-to-syrup ratio of each valve, which can take a significant amount of time and result in significant cost. Although ideally such standard beverage valves are intended to maintain a correct water-to-syrup ratio once adjusted, in reality the ratio needs to be adjusted periodically to maintain a proper tasting beverage. Further, such valves require periodic cleaning.
Other known devices provide means to regulate syrup flow only, but only for a very limited set of operational conditions.